Dick Reid Archive

Professional papers of Dick Reid, 1960s-2005, comprising project files, financial invoices and accounts, personnel records, records concerning the Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture, and other papers.

Richard ‘Dick’ Reid was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 14 May 1934. He served an apprenticeship as an Architectural Wood and Stone Carver in the studio of Ralph Hedley (Craftsmen) Ltd of Newcastle, where he also attended Durham University Art School.
Following his National Service, he set up his own stonemasonry workshop in York in 1958. Over the next forty years he established himself as a master sculptor and carver whose expertise in conservation and restoration in particular was recognised internationally. At its height in the 1990s, his workshop was the largest in the UK, with up to fifteen assistants and apprentices.
His projects have included Spencer House, Althorp, Somerset House, Windsor Castle, The Sanctuary at Highgrove, Fairfax House in York, Carlisle Cathedral, and Chatelherault Hunting Lodge in Scotland.
In 1989 he was invited by Charles, Prince of Wales, to work with his new Institute of Architecture. Reid subsequently became a lecturer and Trustee of the Institute, taking part in summer schools in the UK and America over the next twelve years. He is also a founder member of the Crafts Council in London and the Scottish Conservation Bureau in Edinburgh.
In 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of York in recognition of his work and in 2003-2004 he served as Master of the Art Workers’ Guild in London. He was also Training Co-ordinator and Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Masons, the London livery company for stonemasonry, and a President of the Master Carvers’ Association. In York he has served as President of the York Decorative and Fine Arts Society, Vice-President of the York Georgian Society and Governor of York Merchant Adventurers Company.
He retired in 2005, donating the remaining items from his studio to the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art in New York where it forms The Dick Reid Teaching Collection.
In 2013 he was awarded an OBE for his services to Heritage. In 2016 he received the Duke of Gloucester Gold Medal for outstanding lifetime achievement in stonemasonry.

Under the terms of the deposit, certain files are closed until further notice. The remaining records are open to the public, subject to the overriding provisions of relevant legislation, including the data protection laws. 24 hours' notice is required to access photographic material.

The archive was deposited at the Borthwick Institute in 2009. Further additions were made to the archive in 2014 and 2016.

Richard ‘Dick’ Reid was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 14 May 1934. He served an apprenticeship as an Architectural Wood and Stone Carver in the studio of Ralph Hedley (Craftsmen) Ltd of Newcastle, where he also attended Durham University Art School.
Following his National Service, he set up his own stonemasonry workshop in York in 1958. Over the next forty years he established himself as a master sculptor and carver whose expertise in conservation and restoration in particular was recognised internationally. At its height in the 1990s, his workshop was the largest in the UK, with up to fifteen assistants and apprentices.
His projects have included Spencer House, Althorp, Somerset House, Windsor Castle, The Sanctuary at Highgrove, Fairfax House in York, Carlisle Cathedral, and Chatelherault Hunting Lodge in Scotland.
In 1989 he was invited by Charles, Prince of Wales, to work with his new Institute of Architecture. Reid subsequently became a lecturer and Trustee of the Institute, taking part in summer schools in the UK and America over the next twelve years. He is also a founder member of the Crafts Council in London and the Scottish Conservation Bureau in Edinburgh.
In 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of York in recognition of his work and in 2003-2004 he served as Master of the Art Workers’ Guild in London. He was also Training Co-ordinator and Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Masons, the London livery company for stonemasonry, and a President of the Master Carvers’ Association. In York he has served as President of the York Decorative and Fine Arts Society, Vice-President of the York Georgian Society and Governor of York Merchant Adventurers Company.
He retired in 2005, donating the remaining items from his studio to the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art in New York where it forms The Dick Reid Teaching Collection.
In 2013 he was awarded an OBE for his services to Heritage. In 2016 he received the Duke of Gloucester Gold Medal for outstanding lifetime achievement in stonemasonry.

The archive has not yet been catalogued. Please contact the Borthwick Institute for further information.

Created by S. A. Shearn, 13.02.17.

A reprographics service is available to researchers subject to the access restrictions outlined above. Copying will not be undertaken if there is any risk of damage to the document. Copies are supplied in accordance with the Borthwick Institute for Archives' terms and conditions for the supply of copies, and under provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce images of documents in the custody of the Borthwick Institute must be sought.

Further accruals are not expected.

The Dick Reid Teaching Collection is deposited at the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art in the USA: https://www.classicist.org/resources/plaster-cast-collection/

Published

GB193